Adrift
by Lorr
Summary: The Orion is caught in a CME and thrown part way across the galaxy. All controls are dead. Can those on board get her back to Atlantis?
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Adrift

**Author:** Lorr

**Genre/Rating:** General, some humor, some drama

**Characters:** Weir, Sheppard, Beckett, McKay, Teyla, Ronon, Zelenka

**Disclaimer:** This sandbox belongs to other people. I'm just here to build castles.

**Spoilers:** Inferno and Allies, but only in reference to the Orion

**Note:** This takes place sometime after season two. My thanks again to the lovely people who have reviewed other stories of mine. It is nice to know other people enjoy them.

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It was another one of those interminable nights. Nothing happened at zero-one-hundred hours. The two technicians alternately yawned and tried to concentrate on their duties. It was the quiet that made it difficult to stay awake. It was just so damn quiet. One technician leaned forward to look over the railing at the Gate Room floor. A movement and muffled noise caught his attention. Two on-duty Marines were walking diagonally across, on patrol. He sat down again. His next yawn was interrupted when the Gate began its activation sequence.

"Unscheduled activation! Raising the shield!" The technician hit the shield control as he glanced back at his co-worker. "No-one is due back for at least twelve hours."

They heard heavy footsteps and thuds as the Marine squad assigned to protect the Gate on this watch rushed to their positions. The wormhole opened.

The second technician came around to watch the laptop that displayed the IDCs of off-world expedition members. "It's Dr. McKay's IDC. Lower the shield. I'll call Dr. Weir."

The shield dissolved and seconds later, McKay walked through the event horizon. Almost immediately, Ronon emerged, supporting an obviously limping Col. Sheppard. His long left arm was wrapped around Sheppard, holding him up as the latter barely touched the ground with his right foot. The Colonel's right hand clutched Ronon's shoulder from the back.

A pressure bandage mid-thigh and dark stain running down his trouser leg told part of the story. The rest was explained very quickly.

"…want me to say? Look, I'm sorry! I didn't do it on purpose." McKay was talking as he came through the puddle.

"Hold it a second." Sheppard said through clenched teeth. Ronon stopped. Sheppard gave the P-90 in his left hand to Teyla as she emerged behind them and the Gate shut down. He waved McKay over. "Give it here, Rodney. Hand over your pistol."

"What? Why?" McKay backed up, hand clutching his holstered side-arm. "I told you, it was an accident! I'm sorry!"

Sheppard glanced around at the Marines. He pointed to the nearest one. "Okay, then give it to Sgt. Ramirez."

"Colonel, we need to get you to the infirmary." Teyla passed the two P-90s to another Marine and took Sheppard's left arm.

"That's twice you've shot me, Rodney. Next time, I shoot back." Sheppard glared at the astrophysicist. "And, remember, I'm a good shot."

He nodded at Ronon and they left. The technicians stretched over the railing to watch the group below disappear down the corridor leading to the infirmary. McKay nervously handed his pistol over to the Sergeant as he followed the others, head bowed to avoid onlookers' eyes.

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Elizabeth hurried into the infirmary. The scene very briefly described to her in Gate operations had been confusing, at best. She knew the technicians told her only part of the story, including that it appeared the Colonel was injured. Not badly, but he needed to be supported by Ronon. They were very reluctant to say more.

"What happened? Is everyone alright?"

Sheppard was sitting on one of the beds, propped up by the raised bed head. His right trouser leg was slit from hem to hip, exposing a bloody wound mid-thigh, a little towards the outside. He winced as Carson Beckett injected something near the wound. Then, he leaned back to look at McKay, who was sitting on an examination table a couple of beds over. The astrophysicist was facing away and didn't turn when Elizabeth entered. He hunched down a little instead. The Doctor examining him looked at once amused and uneasy.

Teyla and Ronon sat on opposite ends of a nearby exam table. They were watching Beckett working on Sheppard's wound, occasionally glancing over at McKay. Her face was perfectly composed, making it impossible to know what she was thinking. Ronon, on the other hand, had the air of someone expecting, and hoping for, something to happen.

Elizabeth stopped at the end of the Colonel's bed. A nurse deftly inserted an IV into the back of his left hand and taped it in place. She started the flow then quietly turned to Teyla and Ronon and began to take their vitals.

"What happened? Are you okay?" She was only slightly relieved to see everyone calm and unhurried.

"Elizabeth! Sorry to get you up at this time of night. The party ended early." Sheppard smiled wearily at her. He flinched and scowled at the Doctor. "Hey! You could wait for the local to take effect before you go poking around."

"Good morning, Elizabeth. Don't worry, I think they'll all live." Beckett ignored Sheppard's protest as he swabbed the area with a clear solution and draped sterile cloth around it. "Are you sure you want me to do this with just a local?"

The Colonel looked at the wound then at Beckett. "You said the slug wasn't deep. Just get it out. I'm tired and would like to get cleaned up and into bed sometime tonight."

Elizabeth moved closer. "Slug? I take it that means a bullet. You were shot? What happened?"

Sheppard leaned back again to look past Beckett at McKay. "Rodney, would you care to answer that?"

Elizabeth quickly glanced at McKay's back then at Teyla and Ronon, both of whom studiously avoided her unspoken query. She then looked at Beckett. The Doctor just rolled his eyes and went back to work. She turned to Sheppard for an answer, trying to understand what was going on. He just nodded in McKay's direction.

McKay hunched over even more. Teyla and Ronon tried to appear interested in Becket's ministrations or the nurse who was now drawing blood from Ronon's arm. The Doctor proceeded to gently prod Sheppard's leg to see if the anesthetic was taking effect.

"Wait! You were shot. Right?" She held up one hand, looking from Sheppard to Beckett and back again. "Is it serious, Carson?"

Beckett shook his head as he unwrapped the bundle of sterile instruments he would need to make the extraction. "No, the bullet isn't very deep at all and the scan didn't indicate any serious damage."

Elizabeth had a growing, unsettling suspicion from everyone's attitude, but needed an answer. She wanted Sheppard to tell her what happened, but he just shook his head and nodded towards McKay again. Now, she was beginning to lose patience.

"Rodney?" Her tone was slightly threatening.

"We're busy over here." McKay still didn't turn around.

His Doctor stepped back and began to remove his gloves. "We're all done, Dr. McKay."

"Oh, thank you very much." His voice dripped with venom. He sagged even further before sliding off the exam table. After a moment, he straightened and walked around to stand on the other side of the bed Ronon and Teyla sat on. He was still not looking anyone in the eye.

"Rodney, what is going on?" She asked again, trying not to shout. She was watching Sheppard watch Beckett. The Doctor gently touched a blunt instrument around the wound again. When his patient nodded, he picked up another instrument and began to probe for the bullet.

McKay took a deep breath and looked up. He started to speak twice before words would come out. "It was an accident!"

"You…you…Rodney shot you?" She was stunned, and looked from McKay to Sheppard to Teyla and Ronon then back at Sheppard. "What the hell happened?"

"I made the mistake of letting Rodney carry a loaded weapon." Sheppard's voice was preoccupied as he continued to stare while Beckett removed the bullet from his leg. He frowned as blood seeped out of the wound.

Beckett quickly pressed a wad of gauze over the oozing hole. He placed Sheppard's hand on it. "Hold this, please."

"He said he's going to shoot me!" McKay gesticulated in the Colonel's direction.

Elizabeth now felt she understood. She worked hard to keep a straight face and steady voice even though she was quite alarmed that McKay really did shoot the military commander of Atlantis. "You're going to shoot my chief scientist?"

"Well, it's only fair. This is the second time he's shot me. I think I should be able to shoot back if he does it again." Sheppard put on his best offended expression. His leg hurt like hell so he was going to milk this for all it was worth. And, McKay was such an easy mark. He smiled evilly. "Don't worry, Rodney, it'll be quick, and I'll try to make it painless."

"Sheppard's right." Ronon observed dryly. "If it had been me, I would have shot him this time."

McKay stared at Sheppard as he moved closer to Elizabeth for protection. "Carson said it wasn't serious. So did you. I don't see why you're so upset."

"You shot me!" Sheppard blinked incredulously. "Rodney, you were facing the other way and had your eyes closed when you fired!"

"I was just trying to defend myself." The astrophysicist was defensive.

"They were only domesticated herd beasts, Rodney. They were quite tame and would have done you no harm." Teyla's tone held a hint of condescension.

"You never know. They could have stampeded." McKay challenged her.

"Then how did you manage to shoot John?" Elizabeth glared at him. She was serious now. This could have easily ended very badly.

"I…well…uh…I…my…uh…I don't know. My eyes were closed." McKay folded his arms over his chest and hunched over. He suddenly straightened and pointed at Sheppard. "But, he said he's going to shoot me!"

"He's not going to shoot you, Rodney." Beckett looked at him in disgust. He took the gauze out of the Colonel's hand, swabbed the bullet hole with a different solution and placed a wad of fresh gauze over it. He returned the Colonel's hand to hold the gauze in place.

"He isn't?" McKay looked around then at Sheppard, who just raised an eyebrow with a smaller version of the wicked grin. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Rodney, I'm sure." Beckett decided enough was enough. "Okay, ladies and gentlemen. "It's late, and I need my beauty sleep. You three have been checked out and can leave now. I suggest you get some rest."

Sheppard started to swing his legs off the bed. "Thanks, Doc. Want to put a Band-Aid on this?"

"Not you, sonny. You get to stay for the night." Beckett pushed him back. He saw the disappointment on his patient's face. "No arguments."

Sheppard thought for a moment then nodded. He was too tired to argue.

"May I stay for a minute, Carson?" Elizabeth asked.

"Aye, a minute." Beckett searched the tray next to him then started to walk away. "I'll be right back."

"Okay, what happened?" She folded her arms, determined to get a real answer this time.

"We were five or six miles from the Gate. The Wraith had decimated the first village and we were halfway to the second." Sheppard peeked under the gauze and grimaced when he saw blood was still oozing from the wound.

"The Wraith were there?" She was now even more alarmed.

"Don't worry. It was at least a week ago. Anyway, a handful of cattle…well, they kind of looked like cattle…were moving through the brush. Rodney was already jumpy, and…" He waved his left hand at his leg.

Beckett returned with a role of surgical tape. "He's lucky. I saw Rodney shoot like that once. It's truly frightening."

"He's going to be okay, Carson?" Elizabeth hadn't moved.

"I'm fine." Sheppard answered quickly.

"Thank you, Dr. Sheppard." Beckett's tone was mildly sarcastic but softened when he spoke to her. "The wound is minor and should be completely healed in ten to fourteen days."

"Good." She smiled at Beckett then looked at Sheppard with a more serious expression. "John, you really shouldn't tease Rodney like that. You were teasing, weren't you?"

"Yes. I can't very well shoot him, can I?" The Colonel feigned disappointed. "So, my only alternative is to mess with his head a little."

"John, please." She felt like she was dealing with an adolescent.

"Hey, I'm the one with the hole in my leg!"

"I know. And, I'm sure he's very upset it happened. You just shouldn't threaten to shoot back."

"He's quite paranoid enough as it is." Beckett added.

"Okay, okay." He paused for a moment. "I am going to have to do something about his habit of firing blindly, though."

"Please do!" Elizabeth and Beckett responded together. She continued on her own. "That I can happily live with. What do you have in mind?"

He yawned. "Let me think about it."

The Doctor looked at Elizabeth. "Okay, I need to get him settled for the night."

"Thank you, Carson. Goodnight." She smiled at both of them and left.

----------

McKay attempted to whistle, but only a soft sibilant noise came out. He glanced around before talking. "Hmm. There shouldn't be any problems. The shield will easily protect the city."

"I'm thinking of the Orion, Rodney." Zelenka didn't take his eyes off of the computer screen.

Elizabeth frowned at them then back at the screen. "Why, what's wrong?"

"It's a coronal mass ejection, Elizabeth. It's heading straight for us." McKay responded.

Zelenka turned to her. "And, it's big."

"How big?" She continued to watch an indecipherable graphic on the screen. "Could it damage the Orion?"

"Massive. Look, we don't know if it would cause any damage, but the shield is operational, so it shouldn't be an issue."

"How soon before it gets here?"

"Not more than eight hours." McKay watched the screen. "Maybe less."

"So soon?" Why wasn't it detected earlier?" She was stunned.

"It is coming straight at us from the sun. When that happens, it is more difficult to detect." Zelenka motioned the action he described. "And, we weren't really watching for it."

"No, we weren't." McKay said thoughtfully. He paused for a moment then looked at Zelenka. "Who's on the Orion now?"

"Let's see, there's Gilbert and Park, along with Crosby, Hughes, Prentice and Johnson." Zelenka responded. "Oh, and a couple of Marines."

McKay exhaled heavily. "I'd better get up there and make sure everything's ship-shape. Elizabeth?"

"You all won't be in any danger, will you?" She asked before making a decision. "Should we bring everyone back?"

"No, no. No danger." He suddenly frowned at the suggestion. "Well, there shouldn't be, anyway."

"Not with the shields operational." Zelenka offered.

McKay found his courage again. "And, the shields are operational. There won't be a problem."

"Well, we need that ship. Go." She nodded.

He nodded, only half pleased with her decision. "Okay, I'll take…ah…Yamato, Franks and…Adamsen. Unless you want to come with me, Radek?"

Zelenka shook his head. "No, I will stay here, thank you."

McKay snorted at his friend's trepidation. "Right. I'll get my gear together and be out of here in an hour."

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"Carson, you said yourself it's healing nicely." Sheppard stopped twirling the cane in his hand. He was seated in one of the chairs against the wall in Elizabeth's office. She sat at her desk with Beckett opposite her.

"I know I did. But, you were shot less than thirty-six hours ago." Beckett was exasperated and looked to Elizabeth for assistance.

She agreed. "Carson's right, John. You shouldn't go gallivanting around so soon."

"It's only to the Orion for a few of hours." He was a little impatient. "We'll be back tonight."

Beckett shook his head slowly. "I don't know…

"Don't know what?" McKay appeared in the doorway.

"About John flying you out to the Orion." Elizabeth answered.

McKay instantly became troubled. "Oh, really? You want to come to the Orion with us?"

Sheppard assumed an innocent air. "Yes, Rodney. I wanted to look over the weapons systems again anyway. Is there a problem?"

"No…no problem. I'll…ah…go…get ready." McKay almost squeaked as he pointed towards the Gate Room. He turned and quickly walked away.

"John." Elizabeth said slowly, her voice full of suspicion.

A sly grin appeared on the Colonel's face when he turned back to her and Beckett. "Oh, don't worry. I'll let him off the hook in the Jumper."

Beckett cleared his throat. "I've haven't said you can go yet, laddie."

"Neither have I." Elizabeth warned.

"Oh, come on. I'm fine." His smile faded. He held his fingers to indicate something very small, smaller than the wound. "It's just a little hole."

Beckett looked at Elizabeth and shrugged. "The wound is clean and has begun to heal. I don't suppose it'll hurt."

"Okay, just come back as soon as Rodney gives the all-clear that the Orion is secure." She paused. "And, John…"

Sheppard beamed as he slowly stood up, using the cane for support. "Yes, Ma'am. I promise to behave."

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"You really didn't need to come." McKay looked nervously around the Jumper's cockpit. Sheppard was in the pilot's seat, Teyla behind him and Ronon behind McKay, who was in the second seat. Three technicians sat in the back with two Marines. "None of you. I'm just going to make sure Gilbert and Park have everything under control, that's all."

Sheppard glanced at him. "Rodney, it's okay. All is forgiven."

"Really?" McKay looked hopefully at the Colonel.

Sheppard nodded as he not so subtly moved his walking stick. His voice was smooth as silk. "Sure, it's just a little hole in my leg. And, you didn't mean to, did you?"

Ronon coughed to cover a snort. The men and women in the rear compartment were quiet, straining to hear the conversation. When McKay looked around, Ronon coughed again and cleared his throat. Teyla was composed and completely unreadable. The astrophysicist looked back at Sheppard.

"It was an accident. Honestly." McKay nervously ran on when Sheppard didn't immediately answer. "You have forgiven me, right? You aren't going to shoot me, are you?"

The Colonel shook his head and shrugged. "Course not. Why would I do that?"

"Yes. No, of course not." McKay's voice really did squeak this time. He was afraid to ask which question the Colonel had answered. "Good, good. I'm…uh…happy…uh…happy to hear that."

They fell silent as the Orion loomed out of the darkness. McKay glanced anxiously in the pilot's direction every few seconds. Sheppard slowly flew the Jumper around the great Ancient ship. Besides surveying the repaired damage on the exterior, he loved just looking at her. After completely circling the Orion once, he turned their tiny transport into the Jumper bay they found during the first quick inspection of the ship.

The ramp lowered with a dull clang onto the deck as the solid bay doors slid closed. The Marines and technicians clamored out and went to their assigned projects. Teyla and Ronon moved more slowly, waiting for their team members at the foot of the ramp.

"Rodney." Sheppard turned his seat to look at his friend.

McKay hesitated, unsure whether he should flee or stay. He stayed. "Colonel?"

"You can stop worrying." Sheppard was serious now. "It's okay. I am not going to shoot you."

"Good, good. Okay." McKay started to get up.

"Rodney." Sheppard repeated. "Sit down a minute."

"Okay." He sat down again.

Sheppard leaned forward. "I'm serious. I was pulling your leg."

"Really?" McKay was hopeful.

"Yes. You really think I'd shoot you?" Sheppard managed to keep a straight face.

"Well, no." McKay was a little uncomfortable for a moment then he scowled at the Colonel. "Why?"

"Because it was fun." Sheppard grinned and got up. He picked up his cane and P-90.

McKay followed him out. "That's it, let's all have a laugh while tormenting the geeky guy!"

Sheppard stopped and turned on him. He was not smiling now. "Rodney, it doesn't excuse the fact that you fired your weapon, again, when you weren't watching what you were shooting at. You could have just as easily killed any one or all of us."

Chastised, McKay lost his attitude. "I'm sorry. I can't help it if I panic when I'm faced with imminent danger."

Sheppard decided mentioning the tame cattle wouldn't help as began to hobble away. "I know. Let's see if we can't change that."

"What do you mean?" McKay was suddenly apprehensive. This didn't sound like it was going to be fun.

"Sgt. Mahoney is going to put you through some basic training." He raised an eyebrow at Teyla and Ronon. "And, I'd pay attention if I were you. Mahoney will shoot you."

Sheppard smiled happily as he left the astrophysicist standing in the hatch to the bay. Teyla nodded when she passed him, an enigmatic smile hiding her thoughts. Ronon slapped him on the shoulder and chuckled as he followed her.

----------

Repairs to the Orion had been progressing slowly and carefully. No-one wanted to lose the old warship and her firepower to negligence or haste. Even though they had been working on Atlantis with her complex and extraordinary systems for well over than two years, they were more than anxious about working here. In order to bring the Orion into orbit above Atlantis, systems had been jury-rigged, the repairs made with figurative chewing gum and twine.

McKay blew into the engineering like a tornado. He snapped his fingers at Gilbert. "Okay, we have a massive CME coming our way in a few hours. I need status updates!"

Gilbert and Prentice exchanged sideways glances before picking up datapads to show their work to McKay.

"There's a problem. We need to take the sublight engines offline." Gilbert braced for the response and was very surprised when it didn't come.

"Well, we only need the shields." McKay took his datapad and studied the screen. "What's wrong?"

"We don't know yet, Dr. McKay. There was a minor fluctuation during the power-up sequence. We only found it during the last round of simulations." Prentice replied.

"How minor?" McKay continued to stare at the screen.

"It tops out at about five and a half percent in the second stage. It wasn't there during the initial testing, but we've been increasing the load this week, so…" Gilbert's voice trailed off and he shrugged.

"Damn." McKay tapped on the screen for several seconds then walked over to the panel Gilbert and Prentice had been at when he arrived. He quickly checked their work. After a few minutes of mumbling, he turned and handed the datapad back to Gilbert.

"The trip here must have shaken something loose. Okay, take them offline. We can't afford to do any more damage to this bucket of bolts." McKay looked around. "Where's Park?"

Prentice answered him. "He's started running diagnostics on the bridge with Crosby and Hughes."

McKay left without another word.

----------

Sheppard chuckled silently to himself again as he, Teyla and Ronon walked down the corridor. They'd spent the last couple of hours in the weapons control room and the armory. Adamsen had gone to the control room with them, but left when they went on to the armory about an hour before.

"You should not tease Dr. McKay in such a manner." Teyla looked up at Sheppard.

The Colonel glanced at her when he stopped at a transporter. He passed his hand over the control.

"Aw, that'd be taking all the fun out of the day." He looked sharply at her. "Have you been talking to Elizabeth? She said the same thing."

"No, but we are obviously in agreement."

Sheppard touched the transporter control. Then a second time. Nothing happened. He limped up the corridor again until he came across one of the multitude of ladders connecting the Orion's decks. Teyla and Ronon followed him up two decks and then along another corridor to a different transporter. It didn't work either. He bit his lip as he tapped the comm in his ear.

"McKay, this is Sheppard."

"Yes, Colonel?" McKay's response had some static.

"Are the transporters offline?"

"No, I just used one. Why?"

"Well, we've found two that aren't working."

"Stand by."

Sheppard waited for all of fifteen seconds. "Damn it. Come on."

Leaning heavily on the walking stick again, he hobbled as quickly as he could, roundly cursing McKay with every step. When he arrived at the between-decks ladder, he waved Teyla and Ronon up first. He hung the cane on the rung as high as he could and moved it up as he climbed.


	2. Chapter 2

"Rodney! Lights are out and doors won't open all over the ship." Sheppard asked after Teyla, Ronon and he manually forced the door open and entered the dimly lit bridge twenty minutes later. Only emergency lighting seemed to be working here. "What the hell is going on?"

McKay, Park and Crosby turned from the console they had been hunched over. Hughes popped up from under another one nearby.

"No-one said you could stop working!" McKay glared at Park and the technicians as he walked over to his team. His tone changed when he spoke to them. "Systems are going down all over the ship. We had to jury-rig almost everything to just get her here."

"Col. Sheppard?" Dr. Zelenka was only mildly concerned as he watched the computer screen with Elizabeth. The Orion was in a geosynchronous orbit approximately a thousand miles above Atlantis.

The Colonel was concerned about the low level of static in the signal. "This is Sheppard."

"John?" It was Elizabeth's voice this time. There wasn't quite enough static to mask her fear. "Is Rodney with you?"

"What's up?"

McKay broke in. "What do you want? I'm busy here."

Zelenka closed his eyes for a moment. "You need to stabilize the shields, Rodney. The CME is a lot closer than we thought. It will reach your position within minutes."

"What?" McKay almost shouted. "You could have told me a little sooner!"

----------

McKay spun around and looked out of the windows that wrapped around the forward area of the bridge. The ship was turned so that they were facing away from the sun. Only the star-studded blackness of space could be seen. He stared for a long moment then back at Sheppard.

"We have to get out of here."

Sheppard took a step toward McKay. "What about the shields? You said…"

"The shields are unstable. They could go down any second." The astrophysicist hurried to one of the consoles. "Look, the leading edge of the CME must have already reached us. That's why everything is going offline. Even the sensors aren't working. We have to go now."

Ronon looked around the bridge. "Won't the ship protect us?"

"Haven't you been listening? CMEs are dangerous. Without the shields, the ship is vulnerable to all kinds of mayhem from the billions of tons of charged particles coming at us at more than a million miles per hour. Without the shield, we are vulnerable to those same particles." McKay rushed over to the door. "What part of 'we have to go now' don't you understand?"

"Yes, all the Jumpers have shield capable of withstanding the CME now. We'll be safe…" Crosby edged toward the still open door just as Franks, Johnson and Yamato walked in.

"Wait!" Sheppard looked out at the black. Other than the system malfunctions, there was no perceptible indication of the death that was speeding at them. He turned back. "We don't have time to get to the Jumpers and we can't leave the Orion. What about the hyperdrive?"

McKay stared at him, realizing Sheppard was right. He snapped his fingers several times and walked over to a different console. "Maybe. Just maybe. Park!"

"The hyperdrive?" Teyla asked in confusion. "How will that help?"

"Just like the volcano on Taranis, we only need to get out of the way. We only need to open a hyperspace window for a second." McKay began to tap on his datapad as Park keyed the controls on the console. He turned the datapad off in disgust and set it down. "Crosby, Yamato, see if you can keep the shields up. The rest of you, get the inertial dampers online. And turn off our gear. It's just getting fried."

"Is there enough power to open a hyperspace window, Rodney?" Sheppard hopped up and sat on the captain's chair.

"I hope so." McKay didn't take the time to turn around to answer. "Now, be quiet and let me work."

"Elizabeth, did you hear that?" Sheppard's brow furrowed as he looked from McKay to the window.

"Yes,…heard you. …. luck." Her transmission was breaking up.

"See you soon." Sheppard looked around the bridge. "Lieutenant, what's your location?"

"Engineering, Sir, with Adamsen and Gilbert. Dixon and Smith are here, too." Antonio responded.

"Okay." Sheppard glanced at his watch. "Sgt. Wong?"

"In the auxiliary control room, Col. Sheppard. I have James and Steiner here. Prentice, Franks and Yamato, too, Sir." The young man's signal was full of static.

"Good. All of you stay put and brace yourselves. This could get rough. We are going to try a hyperspace jump and the inertial dampeners are unreliable. Radios off. We'll come for you when it's safe."

"Copy …, Sir." Antonio response was broken by static.

Wong replied as well. "Yes, Sir."

Sheppard nodded at the others on the bridge and they all switched off their radios. It was useless having them on, and McKay was right. All Earth based equipment was being fried by the charged particles of the storm that was upon them.

Ronon and Teyla went to the window to wait. After watching McKay and the others for a moment, Sheppard carefully hobbled over to join them. They looked down at the planet. Towering auroral curtains shimmered below them. They watched in silence for several minutes, frequently glancing back at the men working at the consoles.

"Okay, kids, get ready. And, brace yourselves." McKay pressed a couple of the control keys and scanned the screen above the console. He glanced at Sheppard. "The hyperspace window will open in sixty seconds, but the inertial dampeners will be marginal at best. Stay low and…hell, cross your fingers."

Everyone scrambled to wedge themselves into a spot that might offer them some amount of protection. When McKay turned around again only Sheppard was still standing. The astrophysicist nodded, touched a symbol on the console and sat on the chair. One hand held the datapad to his chest and the other clutched the edge of the console. Sheppard sat in the chair at helm control. He leaned forward and gripped the edge.

Then, the universe seemed to lurch.

----------

Ronon slowly opened his eyes to near darkness. A reddish glow illuminated the bridge. Little more than vague outlines were visible. He heard moaning nearby and crawled towards it. One of the technicians, it looked like Hughes, lay under a console. He was semiconscious, and Ronon thought the man's left leg was bent at an unnatural angle below the knee.

Movement to his left caught Ronon's attention. "Sheppard? Are you okay?"

"What the hell…?" The Colonel slowly rolled to a sitting position then stood up. He leaned against the wall where he had been thrown. "I think so. You?"

"A few bruises, that's all."

"What about the others? Teyla? Rodney?" Sheppard pulled a flashlight out of his vest and turned it on. He pushed away from the wall and began to check the unconscious bodies littered around the bridge.

"Sheppard." Ronon stood up. "It's Crosby. He's dead."

"Damn. Are you sure?" Sheppard limped over. When he saw the technician, it was very clear the man was dead. Crosby's eyes stared sightlessly and his head was tilted at an ugly angle on a broken neck. The Colonel turned and looked out of the window. "Rodney?"

They heard a groan come from under one of the consoles. "Ow! Help!"

"Find Teyla and see if she's alright." The Colonel gave Ronon his flashlight and, using the edge of the console for support, headed for McKay. He slowly squatted down. The astrophysicist was wedged between a chair and console. "Rodney? Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay!" McKay struggled to extricate himself. "I've been tossed around, bruised. I could…"

"Are you injured?" Sheppard's brusque tone stopped the complaining.

McKay eased himself out and pulled himself onto the chair. He began to feel his arms and legs for injury. "Well, I don't know. I might have a concussion, which could be serious."

"Rodney." Sheppard peered at him in the dimness. He spun the chair and pointed out of the window. "Where the hell are we?"

McKay opened his mouth and closed it again, speechless. He saw the faint red light was coming from outside, not emergency lighting. He stood up and walked to the window, oblivious to the people around him. After staring out for several seconds he turned back to Sheppard.

"Where are we?"

----------

"We're not getting anything, Dr. Weir. Their comms may be down because of the storm." The technician at the communications console shook her head. "I'm sorry."

Elizabeth looked out through the doors to the sky beyond the balcony. It had been more than four hours since they lost contact with the Orion. The planet was turning into night-time and she could see the aurora dance out over the water. She turned back to the technician. "Thank you. Please keep trying. Let me know if you hear anything at all."

Zelenka glanced up from the computer in front on him. He cleared his throat quietly. "Elizabeth?"

"Yes, Radek?" She moved to stand beside him. "Is there anything on the scanners?"

He quickly checked the screen for the twentieth time. "No, nothing. We've been going over the data from just before communications went dead. It appears they were able to open a hyperspace in the instant the worst part of the storm hit."

"Thank God. How far could they have gone?" Sensing a 'but', she was only half relieved at the news.

Zelenka shrugged. "We really don't know. We are still experiencing the effects of the CME. The last of it won't pass us for a couple of hours. It is possible the scanners just can't see them yet."

"What happened?" She stared at the screen, still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The physicist chewed on his lower lip at the moment. "Well, we're not sure…"

"What do you think happened?"

"As I said, it looks like they opened the hyperspace window just as a very intense part of the CME hit. We think the energy from the charged particles may have, how to put it, turbocharged the jump. We have no idea how far they might have gone. The Orion could be thousands light years away or just outside this solar system."

"Once the effects from the CME have dissipated, will you be able to find it?" She looked at him.

Zelenka shrugged again. "I honestly don't know, Elizabeth. We know the shields were unstable. It's likely the charged knocked out all of the ship's systems, at least for a while. If the Orion is dead in the water, so to speak, she will be difficult to detect unless she close by."

Elizabeth frowned. "What if life support is offline? How long will they have?"

"Well, it is a very large ship. They will have oxygen for quite some time, weeks even." He thought for a moment. "It's the cold I'm concerned about."

"What do you mean?"

"Space is very cold." Zelenka paused again. "Or, very hot if they are too close to a star, come to think of it. Anyway, if life support is down, they cannot regulate temperature. It could drop more than one degree Celsius per hour. They would have just a few days, if that, before they would freeze to death."

She looked back at the screen, thinking. "What about the Jumpers? They have two Jumpers."

"True. But, unless they were very lucky, they will not be near a planet with a Stargate. And, they have almost twenty people in two small Jumpers." He left the rest unsaid.

She nodded. "Thank you, Radek. Please let me know as soon as you find them."

"Of course." Zelenka responded. She turned to walk towards her office and he went back to the computer, muttering in Czech.

----------

The corridor leading from the bridge became progressively darker until it was blacker than any night imaginable. Sheppard used his flashlight to show the way and the wall as support. He had spent too much time on the leg with the not so small hole and the injured muscles were burning.

"It'd be a hell of a lot easier if Rodney could get the lights on." He complained. Suddenly, low level lights came up. He grinned at Ronon. "Speak of the devil…"

Ronon frowned at the reference. "What?"

"The devil's this evil…Oh, never mind." Sheppard exhaled heavily as he stopped at one of the between-deck's ladder and waved Ronon downwards. As he swung onto the ladder, the lights dimmed to nothing.

"Hey!" Ronon protested above him.

"Damn." Sheppard mumbled to himself. He didn't smiled when, almost immediately, the lights came on again.

----------

The Colonel limped back onto the bridge with Ronon, who carried a large first aid kit. Gilbert, Yamato and Adamsen followed. Sergeants Wong and Steiner and Cpl. Smith brought up the rear with a stretcher. Dr. Gilbert and his technicians went straight to McKay.

"You were right, Rodney. These are working." Gilbert handed McKay one of the two data pads he carried.

"How's it going, Rodney?" Sheppard asked as he entered.

"Everything here is still dead. But, at least we aren't completely blind now." The astrophysicist was focused on the datapad brought from the Jumpers. He quickly glanced around. "Where are the others?"

"In the Jumper bay. Prentice and Antonio are injured." The Colonel held his hand up when Park and Yamato whirled around. "Nothing serious. We're going to move Hughes down there, too."

"Why? Is there a problem?" Park asked.

"It's just a precaution. If we have to get out of here in a hurry I don't want to have to move them later. The Jumpers have power and, as far as I can tell, all systems." Sheppard leaned on a console. "I have Dixon trying to raise Atlantis and keeping an eye on the scanners for any Wraith ships."

"Good idea." McKay snapped his fingers. "What about navigation? Did you happen to think to try to see where we are?"

"Yes, I did. And, we're nowhere near Kansas anymore. That, whatever it is, is between us and home." Sheppard pointed at the window. He grabbed onto one of the consoles to support himself. He watched Ronon and the three Marines kneel next to the unconscious Hughes and Teyla, who was sitting next to him.

Teyla was leaning back against the console, eyes shut. Ronon set the kit on the floor and opened it as Wong, Steiner and Smith went to Hughes. His broken leg was splinted with Sheppard's cane. Steiner quickly checked him over then they moved him to the stretcher.

"How you doing?" Ronon squatted next to the young Athosian. He studied her face closely before carefully turning her head to check a nasty bump on the left side. He found a cold pack in the first aid kit and gently placed it on the bump.

"Better. The dizziness has subsided." She stiffened when the cold touched her head. She glanced up at him. "I am well enough to help."

"Stay there. Everything's under control." Sheppard said to her as he limped over to McKay. "Rodney, do you have any idea when you might get anything working?"

"No, I do not. Like I said, the controls here are dead. I don't know why, exactly. Right now, we're just drifting and I don't know if there is anything we can about it." McKay was already short tempered with frustration. He stopped. "Wait. What do you mean 'nowhere near'?"

"It looks like we traveled about twelve thousand light years. Can you do anything else here?"

"No, I was just waiting for you to get back." He turned to the others. "Pack it up. We're going back to engineering. Johnson, Franks. Go with them to the Jumpers. See if you can get a real fix on our position and boost our radio signal."

"Can you use the Jumpers to…?" Teyla began to ask. She had been listening to McKay rant for well over an hour while waiting for Sheppard and Ronon to return.

McKay shook his head. "Nice idea under more normal circumstances, but no. We have no operational controls and the Jumpers don't have the ability to open a hyperspace window."

"What about the beacon?" Sgt. Steiner asked without looking up. "Wouldn't Atlantis be able to find us from that?"

Park answered. "No, we disabled it at Taranis so that the Wraith wouldn't spot her."

"Can we use the cloaking device in the Jumpers?" Sheppard glanced out of the window again. "If we get the power back up, we could be visible to the Wraith again."

"We'll see what we can do, Sir." Johnson nodded.

Park walked over to look at Hughes. He was obviously worried as he talked quietly with Steiner. "How is he, Sergeant?"

"I've only got first responder training, Sir." Steiner finished packing up the first aid kit and stood up with it. "He has a concussion and broken tibia and fibula of the right leg. I'm not sure, but I don't think has any internal injuries. His vitals look stable."

Park just frowned.

"I think he'll be okay, Sir, as long as we get him to Atlantis soon." Steiner next turned to Teyla. She quickly pulled a penlight from the first aid kit and checked the goose-egg on the young Athosian's head then flicked the light several times across her eyes.

"How do you feel? Any dizziness? Nausea? Sleepiness?" Steiner asked gently.

"I was a little dizzy when I woke up, but not since." Teyla was careful not to shake her head. It hurt too much. "I have not experienced any nausea, nor am I sleepy."

"I bet you have a doozy of a headache, though. Right? I'll give you something for it once we get back to the Jumpers." Steiner squeezed Teyla's arm. "Don't worry, they'll just help the pain. But, if you experience any…"

"I will tell you immediately. Thank you." Teyla nodded.

Steiner stood up again spoke to Sheppard. "Sir, I think we're ready to head for the Jumper bay."

"Okay." Sheppard watched Wong and Smith lift the stretcher. "Ronon?"

"I'll help them." Ronon nodded towards Teyla.

"Teyla, go with them." Sheppard caught the motion. "I want you to help keep an eye on things."

She thought for a moment, knowing that he wanted her there so that the only person with any medical training could keep an eye on her. But, realizing it was the right thing to do, she agreed. Her head was throbbing enough to make her grateful for the rest.

"Johnson. We'll be in the auxiliary control room or engineering. Let us know if anything shows up on the sensors or if you get through on the radio." McKay frowned as he looked around the bridge.

"What about Crosby, Sir?" Franks looked down at the dead technician in the corridor as he walked through doorway. He glanced at the body bag Steiner had given him. The military certainly came prepared. Wherever they went, body bags were part of the gear that accompanied them. That was not the way he would like to live, he thought as he knelt down and began to unfold the bag.

"We can take him with us." Johnson walked through the door and squatted down to help his friend.

"Rodney, wait a minute." Sheppard hung back as everyone started to leave the bridge. He turned to the window as McKay walked over.

"We really don't have time to…"

The Colonel glanced at him. "Any ideas about that?"

McKay's mouth compressed as he studied the object. "I think it's a nebula of some sort, probably emission. We're not in it, but we're damn close. Close in astronomical terms, that is."

"I gathered that from the HUD on the Jumper. Are we in any danger from it?" Sheppard stared at the glowing mass that filled the entire view. As he looked around, he saw that there was much more to it than he had seen earlier. Under normal circumstances, it might have been breathtaking to look at. Just not today.

"I don't think so. We are actually many billions of miles away. It's just so big that we seem to be in it." McKay was surprisingly calm considering their situation. His histrionics had come early and been brief. "Before you ask, I seriously doubt that Atlantis will be able to locate us. Since the beacon is disabled and we have no major systems, we're virtually invisible to long range scanners. Even the Daedalus would have trouble finding the Orion unless she was right on top of us. Do you think they're looking for us?"

"They will, but she was about half a day in the opposite direction. And, I doubt they're going to know our exact heading or how far we came. We need to assume we're on our own." Sheppard twisted to look for the edge of the nebula. McKay was right, it was big. "Why is everything down?"

"I'm not sure." McKay threw up his free hand. "Until the lights came up, I didn't even know we had any power left."

"What about comms?" Sheppard began limping to the door.

"No. Even if we had comms, though, I doubt we'd get a signal through that. Look, we've been going through every inch of this ship for weeks to ensure something like this wouldn't happen if the Wraith attacked. All of the systems were unstable. This ship got an overload of epic proportions from the CME. Even with the Ancient technology, who knows what was fried." McKay winced as he hurried to catch up. He could see the Colonel's leg was giving him grief, but was not letting it slow him down. "I really am sorry about shooting you."

"I know, Rodney, but that's not going to get you out of training with Mahoney." Sheppard slapped his friend on the back.

The astrophysicist hung his head and whimpered.

When they got to the first ladder, he turned to McKay. "Why are we still alive?"

The astrophysicist frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"The CME. Why didn't the radiation kill us?"

"We must have had some shielding when it hit. There's still no guarantee that we had enough. We won't know for sure until Beckett checks us out." McKay paused. "Or, we die from radiation poisoning."

As he started down the ladder, McKay glanced back down the corridor leading to the bridge. The lights dimmed and went out behind them.

"You know, all ship's controls are dead. I didn't get the lights to work."

Sheppard followed. "I know."

The astrophysicist glanced back again. "We have plenty of air, but it's going to get really cold really fast. We need life support soon to have any hope of surviving."

Sheppard stopped at one of the ladders and pointed down. "I know that, too."

----------

"Have you found any way to determine their heading?" Elizabeth hovered next to Zelenka. She had been in and out of her office almost every fifteen minutes for several hours.

The scientist shook his head slowly. "There was so much noise from the CME, we've only been able to narrow it down to an area more than nine degrees in diameter. Couple that with the fact that we have no idea how far they traveled, and it is a very large area of space to search."

"Yes, yes it is." Her voice was barely a whisper. "If we send the Daedalus along a center line of that area…?"

This time, Zelenka nodded. "We could do that. They can run a spiral search pattern and stop at regular intervals to scan for the Orion. They might get lucky, but it would take a lifetime to complete a thorough search."

Elizabeth suddenly turned to the screen. "What about the Wraith?"

Zelenka held up one hand. "Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about them. If we're right about the Orion losing power, the Wraith would have just as much trouble finding them as we are. It would be just like the Aurora, pretty much invisible until her systems or the beacon came online. I'm sure the shields will be a priority for them. We haven't picked up the beacon yet, so the Wraith would have to stumble over her."

"Thank you, Radek." She nodded and squeezed his arm before going back to her office.


	3. Chapter 3

"They're all settled in." Ronon squatted next to Sheppard. He pulled his long coat closer around him. His breath was beginning to create little puffs of steam in the air. There was a noticeable drop in the temperature each hour. "Steiner says everyone is stable. She thinks they'll be okay, but Hughes and Antonio need to get to the infirmary as soon as possible."

The Colonel had decided to sit on the floor, out of the way of McKay and his team as they worked furiously to bring systems back online. He was able to stretch out his legs, and the floor had a little more residual heat. His arms were folded over his chest as he continued to watch them get nowhere. It had been several hours, and McKay's patience was disappearing as quickly as the heat.

"Yeah. At least they can keep warm. How's Teyla?" Sheppard glanced sideways only when Ronon sat next to him. He smiled when he saw Ronon's reaction to the warm floor.

"Not happy to be stuck with the others in the Jumpers, but apart from a headache, she seems to be okay. Steiner is watching her." The Satedan looked at Sheppard's leg then leaned forward a fraction to see his face. "What about you? How are you doing?"

"Hurts like hell, but I'll…" Sheppard froze for a couple of seconds. "...survive."

"What?" Ronon frowned.

"Nothing."

They both watched in silence as panels were pulled apart and their contents investigated. It was a slow, laborious process with only two working datapads and probes. McKay held on to his datapad as if it were a life preserver, but the other was shared amongst the rest of the group.

McKay suddenly yelled at everyone and no one. "I told you to leave the sublight engines alone for now! We're so far away from Atlantis it would take forever to get home. We need the controls for life support, shields, the hyperdrive, inertial dampeners, sub-space radio and navigation. Everything else can wait."

The scurrying began anew.

After a while, one of the technicians whirled around. "Hey! Life support! Thanks to whoever did it. And, please tell me how you did it, 'cause I don't see anything online here."

The men working around the consoles and panels looked at each other to see who was responsible and what had been done to make it happen. They all shrugged and shook their heads. They turned as one to McKay, who had stopped to pull an energy bar from his coat pocket to eat.

He glared back and waved the bar around. "Controls? Power? Hyperdrive?"

A few minutes later, McKay walked over to the observers, and squatted down. He looked from Sheppard to Ronon and back again. He was obviously worried. "I don't know if we're going to be able to find exactly where the damage is, much less how to fix it, unless we either get some kind of power back into the control systems."

Ronon frowned in confusion. "What about the life support and the lights?"

"The controls here are as dead as the bridge." McKay tilted his head in Sheppard's direction. "I believe the fresh air and warm breezes are courtesy of the Colonel here."

Ronon threw a mildly reproachful look at Sheppard. "What took you so long?"

"Yes, what took so long?" McKay shivered.

Sheppard didn't answer immediately. He thought for a long moment then lifted a hand and shrugged. He seemed uncertain. "It's almost like the ship is, I don't know, unconscious."

"Excuse me? What do you mean, unconscious? Like an automatic shutdown? If it had shut down, we would have been able to bring it back up. There's nothing." McKay's voice was beginning to rise. The cold and long hours of getting nowhere were showing. He was not used to failing. He waved at the datapad in his hand and around the engineering room they were working in. "Nothing."

"Rodney. Stop. Take a deep breath." Sheppard kept his own voice calm.

McKay stared at him for several seconds then took two deep breaths.

"Okay." Sheppard absentmindedly rubbed his leg as he thought. "What have you found out?"

McKay shook his head. "That's just it, nothing. I don't think the problem is that the Orion doesn't have the power needed. Witness lights and life support. We just can't control it. We have no way of telling the ship what to do. Even if the Jumpers had enough energy, which they don't, we can't use them."

"Oh, God." Park's voice was flat. He backed away from an open panel on the far side of room.

"What? What is it?" McKay hurried over to him as Ronon helped Sheppard stand up.

Park turned the datapad so that McKay could see the screen. McKay used his own datapad and touched the probe to several crystals. He repeated the process then turned to Sheppard and Ronon. He seemed to deflate even more.

"What's wrong?" Ronon tried to peek at the datapad.

"There's nothing I can do." McKay pointed at the open panel. It was crowded with several rows of crystals. He touched the probe to one of them and tilted datapad for a better view. The screen showed a complex graphic with an almost flat layer running through a three dimensional surface graph that occupied half of the screen. The other half displayed numbers beginning with a decimal point followed by a varying number of zeros.

Sheppard frowned at it then looked up at McKay. "What am I looking at here?"

McKay pressed the probe on another crystal and they saw the graphs changed instantly. The surface graph bubbled with activity and the numbers grew exponentially in magnitude. He pointed at the dead crystal and several others near it. They were slightly opaque compared to those around them.

"This area acts like a…a…power switch. The CME hit just as we powered up all the systems we had online, shields, hyperdrive, inertial dampeners, all of them. Even the lights and life support. The ability to tell the ship to draw power for all of the systems runs through here. It was already less than a fifty-fifty chance that everything would hold together." He paused and shook his head.

"Back-ups? Redundancies?" The Colonel asked.

McKay looked around the room then shook his head again. "These were the redundancies. The main pathways were damaged in the battle that grounded the Orion in the first place."

"Why weren't they repaired before now?" Sheppard raised an eyebrow.

"There is no repair. These are fried. The massive amount of energy from the CME literally burned these out. We've been searching the ship and Atlantis for replacements. Finding exact duplicates isn't easy." McKay exhaled heavily. "Good news is that we have found a large cache of what I think are spare parts for systems here and on Atlantis. We just haven't been able to see if any of them are the right ones. Now that we know what we're looking for, it'll be much easier to find them."

"And?" Sheppard prompted.

"They're on Atlantis." The astrophysicist shrugged. He looked at Sheppard and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Good new is that everything else we've checked seems to be okay. Bad news is, without these…"

Sheppard frowned back at him. "We're stuck."

"How do we get back to Atlantis?" Ronon said quietly as he stared at the crystals.

McKay continued to scrutinize Sheppard. "That may depend entirely on the Colonel."

"Excuse me?" Sheppard raised an eyebrow.

"I can't do anything here without those crystals. The light switch is essentially broken." McKay was a little surprised at his own lack of panic.

Sheppard looked at him with skepticism. "Rodney, you can fix anything."

"Not this time." McKay shook his head.

"There has to be replacements somewhere on this ship." Sheppard looked around the large room. "What about…"

"This ship has been through a war. They ran out of replacements. We've done a pretty thorough survey of the ship." McKay looked at the open panel again. "It's amazing the Ancients even got her to Taranis in one piece. Without the proper equipment, it could take us weeks, even months, to find appropriate replacements on board, if they exist."

"So, what next?" Park said as he hovered nearby with the others.

"Look, I would love to save the day again, but I can't. Not without those crystals." McKay nodded at Sheppard. "It's up to you."

----------

"Atlantis, this is the Daedalus." Col. Caldwell's voice came over the comms. The ship was approaching the planet. "Do you have any further news of the Orion?"

"No, Colonel. We have nothing on either short or long range scanners, or communications, but we are still experiencing some of the effects of the CME. The only information we have is the rough estimate of their heading." Elizabeth stood next to Zelenka in Gate operations. They looked at the computer screen that was unchanged from the first time she had seen it so many hours earlier.

"That's quite a big piece of space to search, Dr. Weir." She could hear the skepticism in Caldwell's voice.

"I know, but we may get lucky."

"I hope so, Doctor. We'll start our search pattern shortly." He paused for a second. "We'll check in every two hours unless we find something. Daedalus out."

"Thank you, Colonel. Good luck." She nodded at Zelenka and returned to her office.

----------

"I still don't understand why you can't just turn everything on. You've already got the lights and life support running." McKay almost hissed at Sheppard. He waved at the lights in the corridor that came on and went off as they, Ronon and Adamsen walked towards the Jumper bay. He was frustrated at the Colonel's lack of haste and concern.

"This is different, Rodney." Sheppard stopped and turned on the astrophysicist. "Remember on the Aurora, when we had to think hard to get out of the virtual reality?"

"Environment, virtual environment." McKay corrected him.

"Whatever. Remember it took extra effort?" Sheppard began to limp off again.

"Yes."

"Well, the Orion's systems are virtually asleep. It takes a little more than 'there's no place like home' to wake them up. And, they aren't staying on by themselves."

"Really?" The astrophysicist stopped mid-stride then rushed to catch up. He suddenly realized that Sheppard was activating the lights and life support from moment to moment.

"I don't think the Ancients envisioned needing to jump start one of their ships like this. It's gonna take a little more time."

McKay persisted as the group entered the Jumper bay. "We've been stuck here for almost twenty-four hours. Shouldn't you be someplace quiet so you can concentrate?"

"Shut up, Rodney. It's hard to think with your constant nagging." Sheppard was beginning to loose patience with his friend. He stepped onto the ramp of his Jumper. "Teyla? How's it going?"

"We are well enough, Colonel. Dr. Hughes and Lt. Antonio are resting comfortably. As you know, none of the other injuries are serious." Teyla walked out of the Jumper. "Sgt. Steiner has been taking very good care of us."

"And, you?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I am feeling much better, thank you." She bowed her head once.

He looked around. The Jumpers were only about ten feet apart. The body bag was just visible on the far side of the second Jumper. Hughes and Antonio were asleep on padding between them. Steiner, who had been kneeling next to Hughes, got up and walked over.

"Sir." She spoke quietly.

Sheppard looked at the sleeping men. "How are they doing?"

"Not too bad, Colonel. Mr. Hughes is in some pain. The Lieutenant has a broken collar bone and, from the looks of it, a broken ankle. I've given them both something to ease the pain and help them sleep." She sighed. "I'll be much happier, though, when we get back to Atlantis, Sir."

"Me, too. How about the others?"

"Teyla probably has a mild concussion, but I don't think it's serious. I think Dixon has a sprained wrist. Otherwise, mostly bumps and bruises, Sir."

He smiled at her. "Good work, Sergeant."

"Thank you, Sir." She watched him hobble up the ramp. "How about you, Sir? You should let me take a look at your leg."

"Nah, I'm fine. That's just where McKay shot me a couple of days ago." He stepped into the Jumper. Wong and Dixon were in the cockpit, watching the HUD.

"It was an accident!" They heard the astrophysicist yell from inside the second Jumper.

Steiner looked at Sheppard in confusion. The Colonel nodded and shrugged. "Thanks. I'm okay. It's just sore as hell."

He used the webbing in the Jumper to take some of his weight as he made his way through to the cockpit. Dixon and Wong made to stand up. "At east. See anything interesting so far?"

"No, Sir, nothing." Dixon rested right hand on the ATA sensor. The left was wrapped in an Ace bandage. "The range on these things is good, but we're just too far from Atlantis to get through that nebula."

Sheppard sat in the chair behind the pilot's seat as McKay joined them and sat behind the second seat. Teyla and Ronon stood in the hatchway to the rear compartment. They all studied the HUD. The image showed the Orion in the center of large starscape. The nebula occupied about twenty percent of the image.

"How are Franks and Johnson coming with the cloaking device?" Sheppard glanced at McKay.

"They're still working on it."

"Can we use the stasis pods?"

"We haven't had a chance to run diagnostics yet, Colonel, so we don't know if the pods are operational." Park said from behind Teyla. "Why?"

"Well, we have to try it. I need a way into the ship." Sheppard answered as he reached forward and pulled Dixon's hand from the ATA sensor. The perspective on the HUD wavered then changed. The image swung to bring the Orion close to one corner and Atlantis on the opposite corner. All eyes watched the image then turned to the Colonel. "I'll bring up navigation first. You'll have to lay in the course."

McKay tapped on his datapad. "Okay. You'll test the inertial dampeners?"

"Yeah." Sheppard read the distance measurements on the HUD. "Rodney, we came a long way in a short time."

"Yes, yes, yes. I noticed that." McKay glanced at the HUD then went back to tapping on the datapad. "It was probably an energy surge from the CME. It kind of turbocharged the hyperspace jump."

"Will we have enough power to get back to Atlantis?" Teyla asked.

McKay shook his head, but kept working on the datapad. "I don't know. No matter what, it will take at least eight hours to get back. I think we should just get past that nebula and try to raise Atlantis. They can send the Daedalus to get us."

"Why not just keep going all the way, Dr. McKay?" Dixon looked from the HUD to McKay.

"Well, because we probably won't have the power to…"

"Wait, Rodney." Sheppard interrupted. "Could a wide-open naquada generator give us a big enough boost to get home?"

McKay held up his hand for silence and tapped on his datapad for several seconds. "It might help. We have one already tied into the drives as backup power, but I can't guarantee it won't go critical and explode."

Park cleared his throat. "We brought up a second generator yesterday."

Oh, thanks for keeping me informed!" McKay scowled at Park then snapped his fingers three times and started to quickly tap on his datapad again. Everyone knew better than to speak until he did again. After a minute or two, he looked up and around at the expectant faces in the Jumper. "What?"

Sheppard sighed. "We were just waiting for the verdict, Rodney. Is it doable?"

The astrophysicist looked back down at the datapad for a few seconds. "Possibly. We can tie the second generator directly into Orion's hyperdrive, too. We will need to bring the generators to the point of overload to get…Maybe, just maybe."

As he turned the chair to get up, Teyla, Ronon and the others that had crowded in the rear of the Jumper moved to get out of his way. McKay stopped and turned back to Sheppard.

"The timing's critical and it means you're going to be in the pod for at least eight hours. Are you going to be able to do this?" He almost whispered, uneasiness in his voice.

Sheppard knew better than to hesitate with McKay. "Do you have a better suggestion?"

McKay shook his head and walked out of the Jumper. "Park, Gilbert, Adamsen! Get the naquada generator and get to the engine room. We need to…"

The three scientists were already headed for the hatch, carrying equipment and talking animatedly as they disappeared.

----------

"Sorry, did I wake you?" McKay had only a tinge of sarcasm in his voice, and that was on purpose. He knew the hours of bringing up and maintaining the systems they were using must be taking their toll on the Colonel, even though it didn't look like it. Stretched out in the stasis pod, he appeared entirely too relaxed.

"Just laying here, thinking." Sheppard swung himself up to sit on the edge of the pod. Activating the stasis pod had not been difficult, and improved his ability to work with the Orion's systems. But, it had been a long day and the few minutes of sleep he had been able to snatch here and there throughout the day were not enough. His head buzzed with fatigue. One would think lying around for hours would be less tiring.

The astrophysicist groaned as he sat on the low stool next to the pod. He peered closely at Sheppard. "You were asleep!"

"I was multi-tasking." Sheppard gave him a 'so sue me' look. "Is everything ready?"

"Not quite, but it won't be long." McKay avoided looking at him by tapping on his datapad. "How can you sleep at a time like this?"

"It's a gift. How long?"

McKay kept tapping. "Almost there. Are you ready?"

"Yeah. Is everyone in the Jumpers?" Sheppard carefully stood up and swayed a little. Ronon reached out to steady him. "Thanks."

"Yes, everyone except us." Teyla answered.

"Are you sure you want to try getting all the way back?" McKay frowned. "If we can just make it to the other side of the nebula, I'm sure we could raise Atlantis."

The Colonel sat down again. "Rodney, we are already visible to any scan looking in our direction. We're going to be easier to detect once all the systems come online. The chances of the Wraith spotting us increases the longer we are here. We can stay put, or go part way and hope the Daedalus finds us first, or we try to get all the way home."

"Yes, yes. I know. But, we don't know if you'll be able to bring everything online at the same time to even do this, much less keep them on for hours." McKay lowered his datapad and looked at Sheppard. "We don't know what this could do to you."

Sheppard raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "Why, Rodney! You care!"

McKay blushed and fumbled with the datapad for a moment. "Well, yes. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, nothing at all." Sheppard smiled.

McKay checked some figures on his datapad. He turned it so that Sheppard could see the screen. It showed an image of the galaxy and the course between their current position and Atlantis. He pressed an icon and several rows of data appeared across the bottom.

"Okay, this is the course we've set." McKay looked at Sheppard. "Remember, bring up the inertial dampeners first, then navigation and last, the hyperdrive. Everything is programmed."

"I know, Rodney." Sheppard winced when he swung his legs back onto the base. He shifted down and made himself comfortable.

"Yes, yes. I just want to go over it again." The astrophysicist swallowed nervously. "The hyperspace window will open sixty seconds after the drive comes online. Now, the naquada generators can't duplicate the burst of energy that brought us here, but we might get close. You know, there is a good chance the generators will go critical and explode."

"Well, it'd be quick." Ronon said dryly.

"Obviously." McKay said flatly. He looked back at Sheppard. "The generators are only going to supplement the ship's power. They will be completely depleted after no more than four, four and a half, hours at this level. If you can maintain the window for the whole time, we may, just may, get most of the way there. These generators aren't designed for this kind of output, and I'm fairly certain that the hyperdrive was not intended to have one supercharged jump, much less two. I'm not sure what will happen."

"Most of the way there?" Ronon frowned. "How far?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know. We have only an outside chance of this working at all! I'm doing everything I can, given the circumstances." McKay was defensive. "I just said there is no way we can duplicate the energy levels of the CME, so it is going to take longer to get back to Atlantis."

"Rodney." Teyla tried to stop him.

He glared at her and Ronon. "I don't know what you expect from me. I'm doing my best!"

Sheppard spoke this time. "Rodney! We know. No-one is saying anything different."

McKay pouted for a few seconds. "Well, I'm under a lot of pressure."

"We know, Rodney." Teyla used her best conciliatory tone. He nodded.

"Okay. All of you get back to the Jumpers." Sheppard looked up at them. "Teyla, you go with Rodney in Jumper One. Ronon, I want you in Jumper Six with Park and Gilbert. Keep Dixon with you. He can fly it if necessary."

"Someone should stay here with you." Teyla glanced from him to McKay and Ronon.

"No. If anything goes wrong, I want you all in the Jumpers. There's nothing you can do, anyway." Sheppard cut off any argument. He focused on setting the alarm on his watch to avoid looking at them. "And, I want you to stay in the Jumpers until the lights come on again or I tell you otherwise."

"Why?"

"Just do it!" For the first time, an edge appeared in Sheppard's voice.

"Okay, okay!" McKay saw his expression and stopped. "Fine. We need some time to get back down there."

"Fifteen minutes enough?"

McKay glanced at the datapad and nodded.

Sheppard thought for a moment. "I'll need to lose the lights and life support to do this. I'll start the sequence thirty seconds after lights out. Okay?"

"Thirty seconds after lights out." McKay repeated nervously.

"Right. Get going."

"Right." McKay hesitated. "Are you sure…?"

"Yes, Rodney, I'm sure. Now go. I'll see you later."

"Good luck, John." Teyla smiled.

"Yeah, good luck." Ronon shook his head once. He and Teyla turned to walk away.

McKay frowned at Sheppard, nodded then hurried to follow them.

----------

Sheppard waited for the minutes to pass. It seemed to take hours, but when the alarm on his wrist buzzed softly, he wasn't ready. The lights went out, casting him in absolute darkness. He watched the glowing second hand sweep around the dial, waiting a full two minutes. He wanted to be sure they had gotten back to the Jumpers. It would also give McKay time to panic and calm down again. He smiled at the thought.

Holding life support and lights on for twenty four hours had been fairly easy, but wearing. The major functions were more difficult to bring online. They required intense concentration to activate and stabilize. And, he'd done that only one at a time for short periods. The pod gave some assistance, but not a lot. This was not going to be fun. He took a deep breath and closed the pod.

----------

The Jumper bay was dark, illuminated only by the low light coming through the Jumpers' window. McKay peered at the heads up display. The readouts held steady at zero, indicating that no ship's systems were powered up. He checked the time again. "He's late."

"Rodney, Col. Sheppard probably just wanted to give us a little extra time to get back." Teyla quietly tried to reassure the astrophysicist. He mumbled about all of the things that could and would go wrong all the way back to the Jumpers. He tried to turn back twice and needed to be pulled along

"Something's wrong. Sheppard said thirty seconds. It's been more than thirty seconds." McKay turned to stare at Teyla. "I told him…"

"Rodney." Johnson said from the pilot's seat. "Look at the HUD."

McKay spun the chair around. The display was changing rapidly, showing the systems powering up. First the inertial dampeners then navigation initialized. The readings wavered briefly before stabilizing. Everyone held their breath as the hyperdrive came online. "Hold on!"

----------

There was no virtual environment this time. It was as black as the corridor and so quiet he could hear his heart beat. Sheppard was working blindly, by touch. Earlier, he had only needed to prod functions one at a time. Now, he had to wake the great ship from a troubled sleep and ask her to do something she shouldn't be asked to do. He hoped she had it in her.

----------

McKay gripped the Jumper's console for dear life, but the shift into hyperspace was much smoother than anticipated. After several seconds, he opened one eye and looked at the HUD. Yes, the Orion was in hyperspace and still in one piece. He opened the other eye and read the numbers again.

"Hey, it's working! Sheppard opened a hyperspace window. He has navigation and the inertial dampeners up, and…hmm, even the shields." McKay smiled when he glanced back at the others. All eyes were on the HUD so he turned back again. He tapped his radio. "Gilbert?"

Gilbert replied. "Are we really in hyperspace?"

"Yes, yes, we are really in hyperspace." McKay rolled his eyes. "Look, the naquada generators will last long enough to get us less than two-thirds of the way back to Atlantis. I want you to scan for any other ships. Let me know if you see anything at all."

"Are you thinking the Wraith my have seen us?" McKay could hear voices mumbling behind Gilbert.

"No. Just keep the HUD on external scanners and let me know if you see anything."

"Will do."

"Shouldn't we check on Sheppard?" Ronon asked.

"No." McKay shook his head at Teyla as well as he spoke. "There's too much of a risk of distracting him. I seriously doubt we'll get a second chance at this."

Teyla nodded in agreement. "Rodney is right. We cannot chance disturbing Col. Sheppard. We should do as he asked and stay in the Jumpers."


	4. Chapter 4

"Dr. Weir?" One of the technicians ran into her office.

She stood immediately. "Yes?"

"We think we have them. We think we found the Orion!" The young woman was grinning from ear to ear.

Elizabeth felt like faulting over her desk, but calmly walked around it instead. She struggled to keep her breathing and voice under control. "Are you sure?"

"We think so, Ma'am." The technician fell in step behind her.

Zelenka turned as the pair approached the large screen in Gate operations. Relief was evident on his face, almost erasing the exhaustion. He pointed at a blip on the screen. "It's the Orion. She's in hyperspace, and she's on her way here."

"How far away are they?" She looked from the screen to Zelenka and back again.

"About ten thousand light years out." Zelenka turned to a laptop. There was graphic of the Pegasus Galaxy on the screen. Elizabeth recognized a dot of light on one of the spiral arms as Atlantis. He indicated two other dots. One was in a denser, inner area of the arm. The other was closer to Atlantis. He pointed to the farthest one first. "This is the Orion, and the nearer ship is the Daedalus."

"How long will it take for them to get back?" She watched the screen, hoping for discernable motion in the light.

At that moment, one of the other technicians handed him a datapad. Zelenka studied it, a frown forming on his face. "Well, normally, I would say eight hours or so."

"Normally?"

"Yes." Zelenka pushed his glasses up his nose. "The ship appears to be moving at rate of speed that I would not have thought possible from what we know of her capabilities."

"Well, isn't that good?" Elizabeth was sensing another 'but' coming.

"Yes and no. It is good that she may return more quickly, but what have they done to accomplish it?" He looked at the main screen for a moment.

"Atlantis, this is the Daedalus." Everyone in operations heard Col. Caldwell's voice.

Elizabeth nodded at the communications tech. "This is Atlantis. Go ahead."

"Dr. Weir, I believe we have the Orion on our scanners."

Elizabeth looked around at the smiling faces as she spoke. "Yes Colonel. We have her as well. We think she is on a heading for Atlantis."

"We agree. Daedalus will turn around and head back. We'll be there in about three hours. Caldwell out."

"Thank you, Colonel. See you in a couple of hours." Elizabeth chewed her lower lip as she watched the main screen, glancing at the laptop occasionally. "Where were they?"

Zelenka worked the curser on the laptop and zoomed the image in tighter to the area around the Orion. He pointed to a fuzzy area behind the point of light.

"This is a large, dense emission nebula." When he saw her uncertainty at the reference he elaborated. "The Lagoon, Trifid and Orion are examples of emission nebula in our own galaxy. They are made up of very hot gases. The energized hydrogen and star formation regions masked the Orion, making her virtually invisible to our scanners while she was powered down. At least it may have made her invisible to the Wraith as well."

Elizabeth searched the screens. "The Wraith? Have any of their ships been detected?"

"No, No. We at least seem to have been lucky there." Zelenka exhaled heavily.

----------

McKay watched the HUD closely, as he had done for more than two hours. Even his appetite seemed to have deserted him. He asked for food only once and that without turning. He'd demanded an energy bar and held his hand out for it, snapping his fingers when it didn't instantly appear.

"We're going much too fast. Sheppard's going to burn out the naquada generators before even we're halfway to Atlantis at this rate." McKay picked up his datapad and began entering data, looking from it to the HUD. He glanced at Johnson. "Bring up the hyperdrive stats with power consumption rates and reserves."

Johnson's eyes narrowed as he concentrated on the astrophysicist's request. He wanted to get it right the first time. The view of their course and position shrank to occupy half of the display. The other half was filled with complex tables of numbers. Everyone leaned forward to read them.

Johnson studied the display. "Everything seems to be holding, Dr. McKay. The Colonel has it under control."

McKay sat back, a puzzled look on his face. "Yeah, he does."

----------

"Rodney?" Park interrupted McKay's thoughts.

"What is it?"

"We're detecting another ship that seems to be on course for Atlantis." Park's voice was tight. The Orion was vulnerable. If she dropped out of hyperspace, she would be a sitting duck.

The astrophysicist sat up as Johnson changed the view on the HUD. "Where? What course?"

"It's running about... Wait…" Park spoke quietly to someone in his Jumper. "Thank God. Rodney, it's the Daedalus."

The HUD in Jumper One zoomed in on a blip running a near parallel course with the Orion, but much nearer Atlantis. The icon showed her to be the Daedalus. Everyone in both Jumpers breathed a sigh of relief.

----------

"Daedalus, this is Atlantis." Elizabeth stood next to the communications console. A mixture of worry and hope was evident on her face, as well as the faces of everyone in the operations area.

"This is the Daedalus." Caldwell answered quickly.

"Have you had any luck in raising the Orion?" She turned to watch the large screen. It showed the two ships on course to Atlantis. The Daedalus would arrive first by at least a couple of hours.

"Not yet. And, we're still too far away for our sensors to detect life signs. Their communications must still be down."

"Okay, it looks like they'll be here in about…" She looked to Zelenka for the ETA.

"About three hours if they maintain speed." He finished for her.

"We'll let you know if we raise them."

"Thank you, Colonel. Atlantis out." Elizabeth nodded at the tech to terminate the transmission. "Keep trying to raise the Orion, please.'

"Yes, Ma'am." The young woman nodded.

----------

They all felt a change in the motion if the ship. The Orion dropped out of hyperspace. The relief was tangible in both Jumpers. It had been almost six hours since they crowded into the two small ships. Six hours of watching the HUDs, not knowing if the ship would make it, much less how far they would get.

"I don't believe it." McKay looked around. "We're made it. We're right on the edge of Atlantis' solar system."

"Rodney?" Gilbert's voice was almost drowned out by the celebration in his Jumper.

"Yes, what is it?" McKay frowned at the rising noise in his own Jumper. "Can you keep it down, please?"

There was sudden silence in both craft.

Gilbert cleared his throat. "I haven't been able to reach Atlantis yet. Have you heard anything?"

"No, we haven't." He thought for a moment. "It could be because of the shields. They must know we're here, though. Where is the Daedalus?"

"She's in orbit around Atlantis."

"Okay." McKay looked out the window into the darkness in the bay. "The lights should be on. Why aren't the lights on?"

"We must give Col. Sheppard a moment, Rodney. He must be very tired." Teyla gently reminded him.

Yes, yes, of course." He exhaled noisily.

They waited. Five minutes crept by. The readings on the HUD began to change again. An almost imperceptible vibration caught their attention.

"Rodney?" Gilbert sounded hopeful.

"Yes, yes. I felt it." McKay responded. He peered at the HUD. "It's the sublight engines. He's got the sublight engines online."

"We took them offline." Gilbert was worried. He stared the display. "The Colonel doesn't know about the power fluctuations."

They all watched the HUD for several minutes. McKay broke the silence. "There is something there, but he's got it under control so far. We should be back in orbit in…eight-point-three minutes."

No-one took their eyes off the display until the Orion was above Atlantis again.

----------

"The Orion is back into her previous orbit." Zelenka pointed to one of the two dots on the screen then the other. "This one is the Daedalus. She's just moving to match Orion's at about a thousand yards off her port side. They're checking for life signs and damage."

"There is still no communication from the Orion?" Elizabeth was now just worried.

"Not so far, but her shields are up. If the ship's and Jumper's communications are down, their personal radios probably wouldn't get through."

"Dr. Weir? We have the two Jumpers on the scanners. They just left the Orion." One of the technicians said as the image on the large screen changed.

"Atlantis, this is McKay." The familiar, and very welcome, voice sounded over the operations area speakers. "Do you read?"

Elizabeth saw grins everywhere. "Yes, Rodney, we read you! How is everyone?"

There was a moment's silence. "Mostly okay. We have a few injuries. Uh, that can wait."

"What's wrong, Rodney?" She became suspicious.

"Sheppard's still on the Orion. He's in one of the stasis pods."

"In a stasis pod? Why?" Elizabeth looked at the glowing dots on the screen.

"It's a long story. Can the Daedalus hear us?"

"This is Caldwell. How can I help, Doctor?"

Col. Sheppard is in one of the stasis pods. Can you beam him out?"

"Stand by." There was a long pause before Caldwell had an answer. "We can't pick him up on the sensors, but that's not surprising. Why isn't he with you?"

"Sheppard had to be in the pod to…It's a long story." McKay was exasperated.

"We'll keep an eye out for him. Do you need any assistance?"

----------

McKay, Teyla and Ronon left the infirmary with Elizabeth as soon as Beckett and his staff would release them. They hurried to Gate operations. Zelenka and Caldwell were standing in front of the large screen.

"I need you to beam me, to beam us, back onto the Orion." The astrophysicist said breathlessly as they approached. His already disheveled appearance was made worse by his near frantic behavior.

"Wait a minute." Caldwell looked from McKay to the screen. "You said on the Aurora that it could be dangerous to pull him out."

"Col. Sheppard has been in that pod for more than seven hours. He should have gotten out as soon as we made orbit." McKay was becoming frantic. "I knew something was wrong when he opened the Jumper bay doors"

"Why is he in the pod to begin with?" Caldwell, who had just arrived, missed the fast debrief in the infirmary.

"We really don't have time for this." McKay started to pace up and down. "To put it simply, the crystals that allow power into the ships systems were burned out by the CME. The only way we could get back here was for Sheppard to use the pod to…connect to the ship. He had to stay in there the whole trip back. We've been in the Jumpers for close to seven hours."

"Col. Sheppard opened the bay doors. We could not leave the Jumpers to see if he is alright." Teyla was obviously worried.

"Have you been able to get a lock on him yet?" Ronon directed his question to Caldwell.

Caldwell tapped his transceiver. "Daedalus, this is Caldwell."

"Yes, Sir?"

"Any word on Col. Sheppard?"

"No, Sir, our sensors have not been able to pick up any life signs on the Orion since the Jumpers left."

"If you do get a lock on him, beam him directly to the infirmary down here."

"Yes, Sir. We'll let you know when we have him."

McKay stopped pacing. He looked back and forth at Elizabeth and the Colonel. "Something must we wrong. We have to go get him out."

Elizabeth looked around the room. "Okay. Colonel?"

Caldwell nodded and started to reach for his transceiver again.

"Wait! I need to get a few things. Radek!" McKay headed for the door and suddenly turned back. "We may need Beckett."

The two scientists rushed out, talking too fast to be understood by anyone else. They were back in minutes, carrying McKay's datapad, a case containing a laptop and cables. Beckett entered a minute later, also carrying a case, but this one was full of medical gear.

"Do you have everything?" Zelenka looked over McKay's shoulder at the screen on the datapad.

"Yes, yes." McKay looked around. "We need to…"

"Col. Caldwell?" The disembodied voice of the Daedalus' second in command broke in.

Caldwell tapped his transceiver. "This is Caldwell. What is it?"

"We have Col. Sheppard, Sir. We're beaming him down to the infirmary right now."

Beckett ran out the door. McKay pushed his gear into Zelenka's arms and quickly ran after him. Ronon and Teyla followed close behind.

"Thank you, Daedalus. Caldwell out." The Colonel said as he followed Elizabeth out of the conference room at a more dignified pace.

----------

The infirmary was nearly deserted. The crowd with patients and personnel just minutes earlier had thinned considerably as the examinations were finished and the returned personnel were allowed to leave. The more severely injured had been moved out of the exam area for treatment.

Sheppard was perched on an exam table, watching one of the nurses take his blood pressure. He twisted to look at the door as the Beckett entered.

"What took you so long?" McKay dodged around Beckett to confront Sheppard.

"Rodney! Settle down!" Beckett pushed him aside. He smiled at Sheppard. "Good to see you, lad. How are you feeling?"

"I'm good, Carson. Bit of a headache, that's all." Sheppard exhaled slowly. "How are Antonio and the others?"

"I shouldn't wonder, cooped up with Rodney on that ship for thirty-six hours. That'd be enough to give any sane man a migraine." Beckett took his stethoscope from the nurse. "Don't worry. They are being attended to. Col. Caldwell had them beamed off the Jumpers as soon as they could get a lock on them. The other injuries appear to be minor, mostly bruises."

"It is good to see you, Colonel." Teyla smiled as she and Ronon entered, with Elizabeth and Caldwell right behind them.

"Was there a problem opening the pod?" McKay, not please with the small talk, glared at the others.

"No, Rodney. It worked fine."

"Then, why did it take you so long to get out?" He persisted.

Sheppard rubbed the back of his neck. "I dozed off."

"Excuse me?" McKay, Elizabeth and Beckett reacted at the same time. McKay continued on his own. "Dozed off?"

"I was tired." The Colonel looked a little defensive. He saw they were staring at him. "What?"

"Okay, that's enough. Anyone not named John Sheppard will leave now. I need to finish this examination and it is going to take a little while." Beckett cleared his throat. No-one moved. "Now!"

Everyone filed out slowly. Caldwell promised to come back for a debriefing the next morning then radioed the Daedalus and was beamed up. McKay stopped twice, but Beckett just pointed to the door. Beckett smiled at his patient when they were finally alone.

"Right, now, that's better." Beckett pointed to another doorway. "Come with me."

A couple of minutes later, Sheppard lay flat on the body scanner table. Beckett studied the screen as the scanner slowly moved from the Colonel's head to his feet.

"How's your leg?" The Doctor slowed the scanner as it reached the bullet wound. "I saw that your cane was a convenient splint on Hughes' broken leg."

Sheppard yawned before answering. "Sore, but not that bad."

"Okay. Take it easy for a few minutes." Beckett watched the scan finish. He smiled again when he saw Sheppard's closed eyes. He walked over to the computer on the other side of the room. Before he reached the desk, the lights went out.

"Bloody hell!" Beckett exclaimed a split second after hitting the corner of the desk. A crash could be heard from the next room as a tray of instruments was knocked off a table.

"What?" Sheppard sat up as the lights came on again. "What happened?"

Beckett looked around. He tapped his transceiver as he walked back over to Sheppard, who appeared disoriented. "Dr. Weir, this is Beckett."

"Yes, Carson?" Her reply was almost drowned out by chatter in the background.

"We lost the lights for a couple of seconds. Is everything okay?"

"Stand by."

Beckett tapped his radio again. He peered closely at Sheppard. "Are you feeling alright, John?"

"Yeah. What happened?" Sheppard nodded slowly.

"The lights went out for a moment." Beckett put his hand on Sheppard's arm when he tried to swing off the table. "It's probably nothing. Elizabeth will let us know if there is a problem. You just lay back down while I look at your scan results."

Sheppard nodded and allowed himself to be pushed back. He closed his eyes and almost immediately they were plunged into darkness again.

----------

Elizabeth, McKay, Teyla and Ronon had barely arrived in Gate operations when the entire city went dark the first time. After the third blackout, a call from Beckett brought them back to the infirmary.

McKay folded his arms over his chest. "Are you sure it happened only when the Colonel fell asleep?"

"Yes, Rodney." Beckett watched his patient as he spoke, barely glancing away to answer.

"What's going on?" Elizabeth looked from Beckett to McKay to an obviously unhappy Sheppard.

"Rodney, you cannot be sure about it." Beckett tried to forestall McKay's theory.

"Look, there's nothing wrong with the City. See?" The astrophysicist wiggled his finger towards the lights then pointed at Sheppard, who was sitting on the edge of the exam table. "After what happened on the Orion, it's the only possible conclusion."

"That's a big leap, Rodney." Beckett pushed back.

"Excuse me!" Elizabeth raised her voice to be heard. "What are you talking about?"

The two men, along with Teyla and Ronon, turned to Sheppard. "It seems the Colonel here has more control over the Ancient technology than we thought possible."

Sheppard sighed. "Perfect."

----------

"I really don't remember much after opening the hyperspace window." Sheppard said. He was sitting in Elizabeth's office, talking with her and Beckett. "Everything's kind of hazy until I woke up this morning."

"I'm not surprised." The Doctor watched the Colonel closely. "I'm still a little unclear on how you did it."

"You and me, both, Doc." He frowned.

"You're feeling okay, though?" Elizabeth tried to mask her apprehension.

"Yeah. Headache's gone. And, once the lights stopped going out, I slept like a baby. I'm fine."

Beckett was exasperated at the lack of concern. "We don't know that yet, John. I have no idea what short or long term effects the use of the stasis pod will have on you."

The Colonel rolled his eyes. "I feel fine."

"Well, I have some tests I want to do. I want you back in the infirmary this afternoon." Beckett put on his sternest expression.

Sheppard leaned his head back against the wall and groaned. Beckett looked at Elizabeth, silently imploring her for support.

"Carson's right, John. We need to make sure there is nothing...that you're…okay."

McKay rushed into Elizabeth's office, a look of triumph on his face. He laid a case full of Ancient crystals on her desk. His appearance was much better than the day before. She heard that he set his team of technicians to the task of finding the right crystals when Beckett ordered him to bed. They worked the entire twenty-four hours since the Orion's return.

"Well, we found the last one. These are exact duplicates of the damaged control crystals." He paused for a second. "This whole thing was astonishingly bad timing, really. We would have had these in the Orion by next week."

"It's frightening to think an Ancient, or any, ship can be completely disabled by damaging just a handful of crystals." Elizabeth picked up one of the crystals and turned it over. "Are you sure these will work?"

"Absolutely!" McKay stopped her protest with a raised hand. He smiled merrily. "Admittedly, there are a huge number of variations in the crystals in Atlantis and on the Orion. But, they also use the same crystals in many systems."

"So, you're going back up to the Orion to replace them?" Elizabeth looked from McKay to Sheppard. She knew they needed the Colonel to help activate the ship's systems again.

"Are you going right now?" Beckett was suspicious.

"Well, yes, of course!" McKay was surprised at the question. "The Daedalus is ready to beam us over."

"The Orion's just drifting right now. We need to get her powered up and able to maneuver as soon as we can." Sheppard was serious. "We'll be back in a couple of hours, in time for dinner."

Elizabeth shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "That's what you said last time."

"Well, this time, we don't have a CME coming at us." McKay offered.

Sheppard stood up. "And, I'll be in the pod again. Okay?"

"I want you in the infirmary as soon as you get back." Beckett sighed. He knew Sheppard was right. The ship was too valuable. He nodded at Elizabeth, who, in turn, nodded at the Colonel.

McKay and Sheppard left.

After sitting in silence for a few moments, Beckett stood up to leave. He glanced at the door then looked at Elizabeth. He spoke thoughtfully. "I wonder if the Ancients knew they could do that."

"I wonder if they able to do it." She replied, just as thoughtfully.

----------

As they gathered on the Gate Room floor an hour later, McKay saw a Marine standing at ease near a group of technicians waiting to be beamed to the Orion. Once power and systems were back online, more technicians would fly up in the Jumpers to continue repairs to the ship. McKay's pace slowed considerably when he recognized the man.

Sheppard smiled as he stopped in front of the Marine. "Sgt. Mahoney! Rodney, you know the Sergeant, don't you? He's joining us this afternoon."

The End


End file.
